Since recorded history began with ciphers etched into stone, there are no viable records of an actual matriarchal-dominant society, a society completely under female rule. Yet current politico-religious societies, such as those in the Middle East, suggest the repressive treatment of women - often valueless other than for bearing children, and worse, as simple property - is an overreaction to some dim past. Payback on a grand scale. There are those civilizations that suggest "payback" is for a reason. A particular tribe in Africa, in one instance, forbids women access to the "flute," suggesting at some point in time, the use of the flute was for some purpose other than music. Perhaps control. The Pueblo Indians of the southwest still prohibit women from their sacred ceremonial kivas. There are myths and legends that abound, suggesting that matriarchal rule, even warrior women, was dominant. One need look no further than deep in the Amazonian jungles of South America, where the legend of Las Madres de la Sombra, still exist. From these legends comes The Aestrah Cycle.